r/regina • u/Purplekitty89 • 1d ago
Question Wait times for ultrasounds
Hey everyone, new here.
I had a PET scan back at the end of August. Several areas popped up with concern, including high metabolic uptake in the enlarged lymph nodes in my armpit with skin thickening. Also widespread diffuse high metabolic uptake in my bone marrow. Currently waiting to see a blood specialist for bone marrow biopsy.. my current specialist immediately referred me for an ultrasound on my armpits to confirm findings from pet scan, especially since I now have enlarged lymph nodes in chest and along the cervical chain in my neck. Part of the ultrasound will also look at another area that had high metabolic uptake.
I have never waited more than a week for an ultrasound, and we are now almost 2 months into waiting on an appointment. I’ve checked in to make sure specialist has in fact sent off the referrals for the ultrasound and he has.
Is Regina just that low on ultrasound techs that even in cases like mine, where we need to confirm what the PET scan was showing, they can’t get us in quick enough? We are still trying to figure out if this is cancer or not and until I get these biopsies, we won’t know for sure.
Like I said before, I’ve only ever waited a few days to a week to get in for an ultrasound, so waiting this long for an important scan is getting extremely more frustrating.
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u/onepoorslice 1d ago
Where were the referrals sent? Call there to ask if they received them, and wait time.
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u/Purplekitty89 1d ago
It would have to been Prairie Skies, but have a pooling system so I’m not even sure what location it would be for. I think might call my specialists office again this next week about it because yeah, I have never gone over a week waiting time for this
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u/onepoorslice 1d ago
Our specialist can only confirm it was sent, not if it was received. Prairie Skies should have some way of confirming it was received.
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u/StanknBeans 1d ago
Ask to go to Moose Jaw. They were booking Jan in Regina but I got an appointment for less than a week in Moose Jaw.
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u/No_Comfort_4230 14h ago
I second MJ. I booked a mammogram here in Regina. It was 1.5 years from my booking. I accepted it and then Went back to my doctor and asked for MJ. Got in within three months and had it New Years Eve last year.
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u/Purplekitty89 10h ago
My family Dr is in Moose Jaw, and I see him on November 3rd, so if I haven’t gotten a date by then, I’ll ask him to send the referral instead. I still don’t understand why my specialist sent the request to the hospital
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u/dethrock 1d ago
I booked with Prairie Skies on Rochdale about 2 weeks ago and my appointment isn't until Feb 9th 2027.
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u/whatthefuckunclebuck 1d ago
Sorry this is happening, it would be scary dealing with all of this and not being able to get the answers you need.
Make sure they (whichever clinic they are sending you to) know you want to be on the wait list (if they don’t already). I would drop everything to be able to get an appointment.
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u/Still-Ad-7382 1d ago
Did you call them ? If not then you are waiting. Call NOW. Call in mornings . I had an appt booked for Jan. Called this weekend and got in 3 days due to cancellation.
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u/Purplekitty89 1d ago
Yes I called earlier. I’m not in prairie skies system, then called specialists office it and turns out he sent it to the hospital. His receptionist resent it because of how long it’s been. My only thought of why he chose the hospital is because they maybe had radiologists on hand to read the report immediately. Whereas prairie skies sends their reports sometimes out of province to get read like they did with my neck ultrasounds and breast ultrasound with mammogram - my radiologist for my breast was located in Toronto.
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u/Still-Ad-7382 2h ago
I hope you got it all sorted out
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u/Purplekitty89 2h ago
Unfortunately I haven’t yet, but it does look like my specialist has sent the referral to the hospital for a specific reason. I’ve just spent the last year moving a couple steps forward, with new info leading us down a path, only for me to be stuck in limbo waiting on tests. Then I get stuck waiting on results, only to go back to find out we now have to do even more tests. It’s been a very long exhausting journey and I very much am at I point that I just want some sort of answer so we can figure out how to treat it so I can start feeling like myself again. It doesn’t help that my health continues to deteriorate and the pain is getting worse. Crossing my fingers for answers soon
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u/wynocerous 1d ago
Unfortunately waiting 3 months for ultrasounds seems to be standard in Regina now unless it's obstetric. If extremely urgent, your MD can likely speak to the radiologist and get you in sooner. Without doing that though, expect to wait. 5 years ago, I'd wait 1-2wks for ultrasounds. Boy have things changed...
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u/According_Blood_6978 1d ago
Depends on the urgency, but if you're in a rush, just tell them you're willing to go out of town. I live an hour south and work in Regina, so I basically just say Weyburn, Radville, Estevan and Regina are all acceptable. I had two earlier this year. Both in Weyburn and both with a couple of weeks.
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u/kmargd 9h ago
It’s probably an ultrasound with biopsies done in the OR? My mom recently had a pet scan showing activity in the lymph nodes and that’s what she had done. Initially was booked for a month out but got in on a cancellation the next t week. Though this is in Saskatoon. Two months seems excessive maybe try calling the OR waitlist?
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u/Purplekitty89 8h ago
My specialist just mentioned it as ultrasounds to look at both armpits and pelvis as recommended by what was seen on PET scan. I have wide diffuse metabolic uptake throughout bone marrow (waiting on appointment with hematologist so we can do a bone marrow biopsy) high metabolic uptake in left axilla with lymphnodapathy and skin thickening. High metabolic uptake in left pelvis. I do also have an enlarged cervical lymph node with normal appearance (confirmed via ultrasound prior to pet), but I’m unsure if that’s what was causing high metabolic uptake at base of tongue/throat as that’s the same area the lymph node is. I do have enlarged lymph node near right mediastinum (confirmed via CT several months prior) but it wasn’t active on the pet scan. I had high metabolic uptake in distal esophagus, had upper GI scope a week later which ended up being grade A erosion to my esophagus and the biopsies he took came back normal, so the uptake was probably due to the damage in my throat. I feel like if this was going to be a biopsy, my dr would have said something prior. I think the ultrasound is to see if the lymph node is enlarged from cancer or reactive due to an underlying health problem like an autoimmune disease. There is a lot more as to what’s going on and what’s been found, but trying to stay on topic of how long I’ve been waiting for an ultrasound especially when it’s been requested due to pet scan results
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u/PlaidLightning 4h ago
My parter waited about 4 months for untrasound on broken elbow and torn ligaments.....
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u/Purplekitty89 4h ago
That is wild! I’ve never waited longer than a week for an ultrasound. My CT scan on the other hand even though I was put in as semi urgent, took 4 months. My PET scan only took two weeks. I’m hoping that my specialists office resending the referral in last week will get things moving, but again, this is the first time I’ve ever had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound. It’s always been done at Prairie Skies in Moose Jaw or Regina
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u/Purplekitty89 1d ago
Okay I’ll called the clinics and they have no referrals for me. So I called my specialist, and apparently he sent for me to have the imaging done at the hospital, but that she would re-fax the request in. I’m now left trying to figure out why we are doing the ultrasound at the hospital instead of at prairie skies?
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u/LowIncident694 1d ago
Why not ask the clinic...
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u/noproblemo789 1d ago
I was referred for an ultrasound in August and got it done within a week at the clinic on 4th and McIntosh. 2 months seems like an excessive wait.